From Whence We Came
by Aedammair
Summary: They look up at the woman perched atop the boulder. She looks like Audrey - like Lucy and Sarah and Margaret - but her eyes are wrong, the expression within them foreign on such a familiar face, and in that moment they finally understand. Everything.
1. In Session

So it turns out that all I needed to break my writer's block was a new season of Haven. Who knew?

This is dedicated to SandraDeee for writing me and asking me where the hell I was (to paraphrase). Thanks, lady. You gave me the kick in the tail I needed to get moving. :)

The characters belong to SyFy.

* * *

"Is it working?"

Claire's question brings Audrey out of her daze. She focuses her blue eyes on Claire's impassive face, frowns.

"Is what working?" she asks.

"Pushing the people who love you away. Pretending it doesn't bother you." Claire smiles quickly. She does that, Audrey notices, punctuates profound, personal insights with her dazzling smile and kind eyes.

_Don't worry_, that expression says, _I won't tell anyone how transparent you are_.

"Claire…" Audrey's tired of this conversation. "Can we talk about something – anything – else? The Red Sox? The Fall Festival?"

Claire's expression never changes, her eyes never shift or lose focus. It's what makes her a good psychologist; it's also what drives Audrey crazy most of the time.

"You and Nathan typically work the Festival together, don't you? Duke swings by, makes an ass of himself, spends too much money at the Kissing Booth?"

Audrey's sigh of defeat is audible. Her shoulders slump and she leans back against the couch cushions, petulant.

"Nathan is a little busy with Jordan McKee and the Guard. Duke and I are barely on speaking terms at the moment, much less Fall Festival terms. And Tommy's the new guy, so he's working the Festival with the guys."

Claire tilts her head to the side, regards her with neutral, owlish eyes. "So you'll be off, then." Audrey nods. "And you'll be doing what, exactly?"

Audrey has plans. Lots of them. They involve an afternoon at the library, a boat charter, and a conversation with the Teague brothers – not necessarily in that order.

She can't tell Claire that, though, because Claire will try to stop her…or worse, she'll try to go with her and there are some things in life Audrey just needs to do by herself. Like tracking down her origins in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

"I'm going to stay home, do some reading," she lies. "I'm way behind on my collection of trashy vampire novels."

She knows Claire doesn't believe her, but the psychologist lets it go.

For now.

* * *

She has two voicemails on her phone when she leaves Claire's office. One from Tommy, telling her he feels like he's being punk'd but the cider donuts make up for it.

The second is from Nathan.

"I'm heading back to town, Parker…I know you're not talking, but I'm not giving you a choice. This is big, Audrey, bigger than you know, and I'm not letting you go this easily."

She deletes it, turns off her phone, and walks three blocks from Claire's office to the Haven Public Library.

It's full of children and a handful of harassed volunteers. She waves at Carolina Flint, the new librarian, on her way past the circulation desk.

"Madhouse today," she says and Carolina blows blonde hair from her face, nods.

"Ayup. Archives?" she asks. Audrey nods. "Moved 'em up to the attic reading room a couple of days ago. Little more privacy up there." She pulls a key from her pocket, hands it to Audrey. A little girl runs by, dressed as a pirate and yelling 'huzzah' at the top of her lungs. Carolina shakes her head. "Quieter, too," she says.

Audrey laughs, sounding lighter than she feels. She pockets the key and makes her way to the stairs that lead up to the attic. Once there, she unlocks the door, enters, and locks it behind her. She'd rather not be disturbed while she's searching for her past and since she's got the only key in the building stuck in her pocket, she figures she's safe for the time being.

She pulls out boxes for 1983, 1956, and 1929. The first box she opens, from 1929, is empty. She flips the tops on both 1956 and 1983.

Empty. Both of them.

Well, nearly empty.

She reaches into the box from 1983 and pulls out something heavy and sinister. It takes her a minute, since her most recent memories are from a city upbringing, but eventually she recognizes what the object in her hand is and she drops it back into the box. She knows what it's used for, has seen the damage on X-rays in the morgue.

A bolt gun.


	2. Personal Review

Nathan knows panic even without being able to feel the symptoms. He knows his heart is racing, knows his stomach is in knots. He's white-knuckling the Bronco's steering wheel and breaking the land-speed record while driving to Haven.

Panicked, for sure.

He called her three hours ago, called her five times since, and she isn't picking up her cell – isn't calling him back. It's going straight to voicemail and he's sick of speaking to a recording of Audrey's voice.

He debates his next decision. He'd rather lose an eye than call Duke for help, but something tells him he needs a hand with this. Audrey distanced herself so well he didn't realize until today she'd done it on purpose.

"Dumbass," he swears, meaning both himself and Audrey. He shakes his head, pushes down the gas pedal a little more.

"_Tell me about Audrey Parker," Jordan says, her hand intertwined with his. She's wearing long sleeves, covering the maze tattoo on the inner part of her forearm, near her elbow. He's seen it – and much more – since their first drink two weeks ago._

_He should feel guilty, ashamed of himself, but he's rationalized his actions simply by using Audrey's inaction as an excuse._

"_She's a good cop," he says. She rolls her dark eyes at him. Jordan is the opposite of Audrey in every way. He's caught up in the shine of it, like a new toy. "What do you want to know, Jordan?"_

"_The tattoo," she says, tracing the maze on his forearm, "was it for her? For Audrey Parker?"_

_He hasn't told anyone yet that the tattoo came on its own, rose up on his skin like a brand as he considered killing Duke. He doesn't want to know why it appeared. There isn't anyone to ask, now that the Chief is gone and the Teague brothers can't be trusted. So the secret stays between him and Duke – one of many._

_He nods, slowly, suddenly unsure of the woman next to him. Her grip tightens on his arm, though he doesn't feel. He sees the skin bunch under her fingers._

"_She isn't a friend of Haven, Nathan. She's dangerous. To you, to the Guard, to the Troubled. She's aligned herself with Crocker."_

_He plays dumb. "How do you figure?"_

_She smiles, charming like a snake about to strike. "We know about Harry Nix, Chief. We know what she did to him. What Crocker helped her do."_

_He looks at her, sees through his own haze of desire and anger and desperation. He sees her, finally, for what she is – deadly._

"_What happens in twenty-five days, Jordan?"_

_The charming smile turns cryptic, awful. He thinks of life without Audrey, but he can't feel anything – not even the dread building in him._

"_The Hunter comes and takes its prey and you and I go back to who we were all those years ago."_

"_Takes her where?"_

To the island.

To Kick'em Jenny Neck and a barn that vanishes.

He takes the final turn to Haven on two wheels, his phone held up to his ear.

"Duke, we got a problem."

She doesn't wait for Dave or Vince to say hello or ask how she is before she slams the bolt gun down on Vince's desk hard enough to rattle the computer monitors.

"Talk," she says. Both men open their mouths, but she silences them with a glare. "If you lie to me about anything – anything – I'll start breaking things." She knocks a snow globe off Dave's desk to prove her point.

"What do you want to know?" Dave asks, his voice a little tight.

She points at the bolt gun. "Where did this come from?"

Vince picks it up gingerly. He looks afraid of it, which catches Audrey off guard. Vince Teague isn't afraid of anything.

"Someone stole it from our safe three weeks ago," he says. "Right around the same time you were abducted." He lays the gun down on the desk, facing away from them. "Where did you find it?"

"In the library, in a box from 1983." She picks it up. It's heavy in her hand. "Why was it in your safe?"

The brothers look at each other. Audrey knocks a Sea Dogs mug off Vince's desk with the front part of the bolt gun. It smashes next to the remnants of the snow globe.

"We took it," Dave says, moving things on his desk so they're out of Audrey's reach. "From the beach the morning we found the Colorado Kid."

She stares at him, incredulous. "You took evidence? From a crime scene?"

Vince stands. He looks old, older than when she first met him. Dave, too.

"We took it because you asked us to."

"Well," Dave adds, "Lucy asked us to."

Audrey's lungs deflate. She staggers back, the counter keeping her upright. "Why?" she asks, more to herself than to the Teagues. "Why would I…why would Lucy…do that?"

"She found him," Vince says. "When we got there, Lucy Ripley was standing near the body of the Colorado Kid, holding Duke's hand."

Dave motions to the bolt gun, still in her hand. "She had that in her other hand. She told us to take it, lock it away someplace safe."

"We thought…" Vince starts

"We thought we were helping," Dave finishes.

She swallows, wills herself to breathe. Did she – did Lucy – kill the Colorado Kid? Is that why she was kidnapped? She has far too many questions and not enough answers.

She places the bolt gun on the counter behind her, away from all of them, and sits in the visitor's chair between the two brothers' desks. "Tell me about the island," she says. "Tell me everything you can."


	3. Questions & Answers

"I can't believe you," Duke says. "I'm usually the one doing stupid shit. Watch out for the cyclist!"

Nathan swerves to avoid a chubby guy wearing spandex and pedaling for all he's worth. The guy flips them the bird as they race past them, the Bronco kicking up a fair amount of dust in its wake.

"Look, it's a long story and I'm not exactly proud of it." He points to a mileage sign ahead. "You still moored at Bigelow Bay?"

Duke nods. "She did this to protect us, Nathan. She doesn't want anything to happen to us because of her, because of something she might have done when she was someone else."

"She froze me out, Duke!" He slams on the brakes, swerves the Bronco onto the Bigelow Bay access road. "Basically told me she didn't feel the same way, didn't want me."

"You're a fucking idiot, Nathan."

Nathan nods, his only indication of agreement. The moors shimmer in the distance, tall wooden poles in the water. Something's wrong, something's off. He should be able to feel it, dammit, but he can't.

"Do you…" he starts.

Duke cuts him off. "Yeah, Nate, I do. So drive faster."

Stan meets her at the town dock. He looks different in his civilian clothes, like a kid playing dress up. He hands her a set of keys, a tiny buoy hanging from the keyring.

"Not interested in the Fall Festival this year?" he asks.

She manages a smile. "Duke gave me directions to his secret oyster field."

Stan grins. "In that case, need a co-pilot?"

"Not this time, but I'll bring some back for you and Amy."

"Annie," he corrects, still grinning.

"Thanks, Stan," she says. "I'll have it home before midnight."

"Should hope so."


	4. Turn

_She finds him standing on the beach with the bolt gun in his tiny hands. The body lays propped up against the decrepit remnants of the dock. She'd lost track of him for ten minutes – time enough for his legacy to catch up with him._

_He turns to look at her as she walks closer. His eyes are silver, glowing unnaturally in the early morning light. He's wearing his parka and rain boots, a grown man trapped in a child's body._

"_I did a good thing?" he asks._

_She starts to cry. "Yes, Duke. Yes you did."_


	5. From Whence We Came

It's quiet inside the cabin of Duke's boat, though the wind whistles through the old windows as they speed towards Kick'em Jenny Neck and, hopefully, Audrey.

"Do you remember anything from that year?" Duke asks.

"1983?"

"Yeah."

"I beat the snot out of you at Jerry Thompson's eighth birthday party."

Duke grins, shakes his head. Nathan manages a quirk of his lips – not quite a smile but an indication of humor.

"Do you remember Lucy?" Duke asks.

Nathan shakes his head. "I tried to, when Audrey first showed up. I can't even remember my mother."

Duke looks at him. "I can't remember either of them."

They go quiet. The silence grows, becomes oppressive as the tension rises.

"If Audrey goes away, Duke, like Lucy did…"

Neither of them voices the thought. Losing Audrey is hard enough to accept.

Forgetting her is unthinkable.

She docks the boat and cuts the engine. It's like going deaf – there isn't a sound around her, just her heartbeat pulsing in her ears. She steps off the boat and onto the dock. Movement in the trees draws her attention and she turns to fully face the woods ahead of her. She isn't alone.

"Hello, Audrey," the Colorado Kid says. "I was wondering when you'd figure it out."

_She hands the bolt gun to Vince, who takes it without hesitation. Dave stays his distance, as always. She often wonders what happened between him and Sarah to make him so afraid of her. She doesn't ask, though; it doesn't seem fair._

"_Hide it," she says, her voice firm._

_Vince looks at Duke – tiny, innocent Duke – then back at her. She nods her head just once, a sharp movement up and down._

"_Judy Wurnous?" she asks, hesitant to know. Vince and Dave exchange a somber glance and both shake their heads._

"_You've got three days," Dave says. "We both know that isn't enough time."_

"_Don't remind me," she says, sharper than she means to. "Write the story. Don't connect the two deaths. "She looks at Duke. His eyes are back to their normal hazel color. "I've got three days and a hell of a lot to do."_

The sight of Stan's boat tied up at the dock on Kick'em Jenny Neck makes Nathan forget how to breathe. He's off and running before Duke even cuts the engine.

"Nathan!"

"It's my fault, Duke!" he calls back to the smuggler. He disappears into the woods before Duke can get off the boat.

"Goddammit," Duke mutters, jumping onto the dock and tying the rope off too quickly for it to be safe. He takes off after Nathan, chasing after him like a hound dog following a scent.

"Audrey!"

"Nathan! Slow down!"

"Parker! Where are you!?"

Duke's a solid minute behind Nathan and he can't see the tall man anywhere. Which is why the sound of a gunshot echoing through the trees scares the hell of him and finally makes him run faster.

_The Teagues bury him in the cemetery, far at the bottom of Potter's Hill. The grave is unmarked, save for a small rock with a C and K carved into it. Vince piles bricks on top of the coffin, convinced this will keep him underground._

_Lucy explains it all to Garland, tells him what Duke did, explains what Simon asked of his son. She tells him all she can because tomorrow is the night of the Hunter. _

_After tomorrow night, the Troubled will no longer be protected – from Simon Crocker, from the townsfolk, and most especially from the Guard._

_Tomorrow night, she disappears._

Duke first notices the man on the ground. He's struggling to breathe, blood covering his chest. His face strikes a memory in Duke's subconscious, as though he should know the man dying at his feet.

Nathan's on the ground, kneeling and staring up at a woman perched atop a boulder. She looks like Audrey – like Lucy and Sarah and Margaret – but her eyes are wrong. The color's right, but the expression within them is foreign on such a familiar face.

"Audrey?" Duke asks.

She turns her eyes on him, the blue glowing in the dim light. "Duke," she says, "check to see if he's still breathing."

Duke kneels, places his hand on the man's neck, to feel for a pulse. Blood gets on his hand, soaks into his skin, and he feels the rush of energy like an electrical current passing through him. His spine straightens and he stands, clenches his fists. His eyes turn silver and the man on the ground dies.

Nathan stands, finds his voice. "What did we miss, Parker?"

"I wanted answers," she says, preternaturally calm in the face of such odd chaos. She points to the man on the ground. "I found them."


	6. Away from Her

_She hands the necklace to Duke. "Keep track of it," she says. "I may come back and need it someday."_

_He nods, clasps it tightly in his hand, the same hand that held a bolt gun three days earlier. "Where's my dad?" he asks._

_Her voice catches in her throat and she's unable to answer him. Garland steps forward, Nathan hanging in the background with a stern expression on his normally indifferent face. She thinks there's been too much death in these young boys' lives. She only wishes she could have prevented it sooner, could have saved Nathan's mother and the town without taking Simon down with her._

_She loved Simon. Loves his son, his town._

_Her town._

"_Yer dad's gone to sea, Duke. He's left you with me and Nathan for awhile, just until your mom can get back to Haven."_

_Duke peers around Garland's legs to look at Nathan. The boys exchange a glance, nothing more, but Duke nods his acceptance. Garland holds out a gnarled hand, which Duke takes._

"_Good-bye, Lucy," Duke says as Garland leads him toward the waiting cruiser. _

"_Good-bye, Duke."_

_Garland turns, looks at her, and she smiles a watery smile and waves him on._

_In the morning, they'll have forgotten her._

_In the morning, Duke will be hazel-eyed and mischievous._

_In the morning, Nathan will be able to feel the pillow under his head and the blanket over his shoulders._

_And in the morning, she'll be gone._


	7. Sacrificial Lamb

_He looked just the way she remembered him: tall and muscular, built so much like Nathan there was a strange resemblance Audrey didn't want to consider it. He looked just the way he did that morning on the beach, the last time she saw him, though his head seems fully intact._

"_You've been remembering."_

_She frowned, shaded her eyes from the late afternoon sun. "Bits and pieces, mostly things that make little sense."_

_He arched an eyebrow and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his pants, a posture that made him look even more like Nathan. "Takes awhile," he said, "to put everything together. You usually figure it out, though, right before the Hunter arrives."_

"_You know about the Hunter?"_

_He grinned and it made him handsome and familiar. "We're children of the Hunter, you and me. We come and go with those meteor showers."_

_She was confused, growing more so the longer they bantered on the shore. "So we're related."_

_His grin grew wider and he cocked his head to the side, then to the other – like a shake of his head, but not. "Sorta, yeah." He motioned over his shoulder, towards the rocks and the forest beyond. "Let's take a walk and I'll explain on the way."_

_She popped the snap on her holster, started towards him. "On the way to where?"_

_He looked over his shoulder as he disappeared into the trees. "To that barn you've been dreamin' about these last few weeks."_

_She watched him walk into the forest. She could hear a boat approaching, the motor straining against a speed it wasn't meant to achieve. She knew who was coming, knew there were two ways the rest of her afternoon could play out. _

_She chose the scenario that left Duke and Nathan behind, where they'd be safe, and she followed the Colorado Kid into the forest._

* * *

Nathan reaches up, takes the gun from Audrey's hand. She releases it easily, her grip loose, and he puts his other hand under her elbow to steady her. Across the way, Duke's eyes slowly return to normal and the body on the ground stays still.

"Who is that?" Nathan asks.

She brushes hair out of her eyes, looks at the body. "James Cogan."

Duke stands up straight. "The Colorado Kid?"

Nathan's frown is sharp and it's directed at Duke. "What do you know about the Colorado Kid?"

"I took him out there with me," Audrey says. Nathan's frown turns on her. "Hey, I needed someone to have my back and you were a little busy having Jordan McKee's."

His hand drops from her elbow, a wall of ice instantly arriving between them. "Don't go there, Parker."

When she turns to look at him, her eyes are glowing. There's an eeriness to the expression there that makes Nathan take a step back and Duke take a step forward.

"Audrey," Duke says, his voice low and calm. It's the kind of tone one uses when working with animals prone to dangerous outbursts.

It's that tone that registers with her. She takes a deep breath, seems to steady herself. She realizes they're both afraid of her. It makes her sick to her stomach. She can't imagine a world where these two men are scared of her - it makes her wonder what, or who, she's become.

"Nathan, we went there for answers and we got nowhere."

"So you came out here, by yourself, looking for them?" He's furious, anger buring through the wall of ice between them.

She feels her own anger bubble up again, tries to keep it in check. "I knew what I'd find, Nathan. I knew that coming out here meant someone was going to die. Why, in God's name, would I ask either of you to come with me if I knew someone I loved wasn't coming back?"

Duke looks at Nathan, whose expression has gone slack. Duke knows how he feels; they've finally realized what Audrey's been doing this whole time, what she's been working towards by pulling Duke in and pushing Nathan away. They exchange a glance of weary knowledge.

"You came out here to sacrifice yourself," Duke says and it isn't a question.

She shakes her head. "This was never about me, Duke. From the start, it's been about saving Haven."

"From what?" Nathan asks, finally finding his voice.

She points to the man on the ground. "From him."


End file.
